Chapter 1- Freakin' Gossip!

Atsushi, Binan High School salutatorian and teen heartthrob, furrowed his eyebrows as usual whenever he heard gossip. Valentine's Day was a mere week away, spurring bets on who would get the most chocolates from the all-girls school down the street. Atsushi, deciding his love of academia was far more important than some all-girls school, felt his anger about to reach a tipping point.

"Hey, that cute blonde from the senior class at Efyu High is super rich!" one boy exclaimed. "I heard she's going to buy a bunch of chocolates, then give them all to a lucky guy at Binan High!"

"You're a poet and didn't even know it." The boy's friend snickered. "I'm sure you can woo her with that kind of poetry."

"But I've got a friend in the poetry club who's a total playboy," remarked another friend. "He's an expert in the female mind. You don't stand a chance."

"Well, screw you all!" interjected a fourth friend. "Because I'm going to get chocolates from every girl at Efyu."

"Braggart!" The friends laughed and began their horseplay. Paper airplanes made from club fliers flew across the halls, pencils were thrown at the ceiling, and spitballs affixed to any surface they touched. As a particularly large spitball struck the bridge of Atsushi's glasses, the Battle Lover decided that he'd finally had enough of the childish gamboling about.

"What's the matter, Kinugawa?" one of the students teased. "Think you're too nerdy to be popular with women?"

"I did hear that a lot of Efyu girls love smarts…"

"But Kinugawa over there just loves his books. He's going to remain a virgin his whole life, you'll see."

"Will you shut the hell up already? Good God!" Atsushi thundered before loudly stomping his way to Chikyuubouei-bu. As he headed there, his nervousness began to build. For all that Valentine's Day talk, all Atsushi could think about was the laziest and most handsome student on campus: his best friend, En.

Despite his seeming lack of any gentlemanly qualities, En nonetheless exuded a charm that Atsushi couldn't ignore if he tried. En's thick head and Atsushi's difficulty in expressing his emotions properly were of no help, despite his undeniable desire to confess to the man he loved.

And now, in the midst of his fellow Chikyuubouei-bu members, in a chair next to the windowsill, lay that embodiment of exquisiteness. Yumoto repeatedly attempted to slap En awake as En countered with slaps of his own. There's no way under the sun I'm sitting next to him, Atsushi thought as he took the seat across the table. I am in no mood to talk to him right now.

"I'm surprised that there haven't been any monsters lately," Io noted, checking the stocks on his laptop as usual.

"Well, Valentine's Day is coming up," Yumoto replied. "Everyone's probably busy being lovey-dovey and whatnot."

"Especially me. I've got a date a day from girls at Efyu." Ryuu bragged.

"I think it's a waste of time," Io responded. "Think of all the money spent on Valentine's Day presents that could be spent on stocks."

"Oh, shut your face! At least I have a social life."

"You little…" The two friends shot up, playfully glaring at each other.

"Stop it, both of you!" Wombat jumped on the table, giving the teens a slap on the cheek.

"Come on, we were just playing." Ryuu motioned for Wombat to shoo.

"Anyway, Valentine's Day should be a great day for the Battle Lovers." Wombat spoke in a more amiable tone. "The loveless are probably daunted by all the cards and chocolates and what have you."

"Which means that I can cuddle with you all day!" Yumoto squealed, giving Wombat an enormous hug.

"Ugh… Can't you at least wait until Valentine's Day?" Wombat grumbled.

"At least someone's excited." En let out a long yawn. "I'm probably going to spend the day at Kurotama or just sleeping. Or hoping that someone gives me a huge box of manju."

"Hey, hey…" Ryuu nudged En, giving him a mischievious look. "You got your eyes set on someone from Efyu High? I can hook you up, if you want."

"Oy, I really don't care…"

"That's right. You probably think that because of your good looks, you're probably going to get swarmed with presents."

"Like I said, I don't really care…" En sat upright, noting his best friend's complete silence. "What about you, Atsushi? Think you're getting a lot?"

"I… I'm just studying for the next test…" Atsushi answered sheepishly.

"Oh, you nerd…" Ryuu interrupted. "What a waste. There's probably a bunch of girls at Efyu who'd go for a nerdy type like you."

"…Right."

"Or probably the cool type, like your best friend."

"Please, stop, Ryuu," Atsushi pleaded. "Valentine's Day isn't really my cup of tea, you know that."

"Whatever," Ryuu snorted. The smile he wore was broken by a crash in the room and a cloud of dust in his face. "Ack… *cough* Yumoto! What the heck are you doing?!"

"Sorry. I was chasing Wombat, and I kind of knocked over a flower pot." Yumoto's attempt at innocence failed, as Ryuu's sneer did not fade from his face.

"Hey, you got some on me, too!" Io growled. "You're lucky my laptop was spared, or I would have your head."

"And just when I was about to fall asleep…" En muttered as he dusted soil off of himself. "Well, perfect. Someone owes us free Kurotama tickets."

"Okay, okay, fine…" Yumoto whined as he gave En what he demanded.

"For all the trouble you've caused, you get to clean all of this up," Wombat ordered. "By yourself."

"Waaaah…"

Yumoto's crying, for some strange reason, gave Atsushi an idea. With little thinking, he offered, "That's unfair. It was an accident."

"Good, you didn't get any dirt on you," Wombat remarked. "You can help him, then."

"Fine, fine. Get going, now." Atsushi shooed the others out of the room as he proceeded to help Yumoto.

"Thanks a bunch for helping, Kinugawa-sempai." Yumoto's voice sounded free of sadness. "Even though this really has nothing to do with you."

"Don't worry about it! Those guys can be mean sometimes, though. I don't think they deserve squat on Valentine's Day." Atsushi arose as soon as he and Yumoto had finished cleaning. "Phew! Finally done."

"All right, I'll meet you at Kurotama!" Yumoto waved on his way out. "Bye!"

"Wait, Yumoto… Can I have a word with you?"

"Yeah, what?"

Whatever ideas Atsushi might have had fled his mind in an instant. Now I don't know what to ask him! Still, it's best that if I confer with anyone, it should be with the only openly gay student at Binan High. "So… There's someone I really like. But I'm way too shy to tell this person about my feelings. You have any idea how, what with Valentine's Day coming up and all? Should I get this person chocolates?"

"Let me guess, a guy?"

"Y-You…!"

"We gays can identify each other easily." Yumoto winked. "Plus, you know that girls are supposed to give the guys chocolates on Valentine's Day. But tell me more about the guy. What kind of a person is he?"

"He's the laziest person I've ever met. All it seems he does is sleep and eat manju, his favourite food." Atsushi paused for a giggle. "He's a frequent customer at Kurotama Bath House, too."

"Manju, you said? Hang on, I've got just the thing for you." Yumoto dropped his handbag on the floor, fished around in it, and came out with a small piece of paper. "Here. You'll want this."

"What is this?" Atsushi eyed the paper curiously.

"There's this new confectionery downtown. It's called Kathenas Agapi Sweets, and it's owned by Greek people. I heard they're selling chocolate manju especially for Valentine's Day, but they're super expensive. I happened to get a coupon during my last visit, though, and thought you could use it more than me."

"Yumoto, thank you." Atsushi grinned, giving his kouhai a grateful hug. "But how should I give it to him? Put it on his desk or something?"

"Nah. You don't want to out yourself like that. Why not leave the box at the reception desk at Kurotama? I can give the guy the manju after he gets out of the bath. But I need to know his name so I give the manju to the right guy."

"Can I…" Atsushi averted Yumoto's innocent eyes, "…tell you after I bought the manju? I don't think I'm ready to tell you yet."

"Sure, no problem. See you at Kurotama later tonight!" With that, Yumoto took off.

"See you…" Atsushi gestured a nervous wave, Yumoto's kindness offering him optimism. "See you later…"